After an anomalous offseason that saw the Patriots rank fourth in the NFL in total spending, New England fans have seen a bit of a return to the norm in 2022 with the team currently ranking 21st. Whereas last year saw the Patriots sign Matt Judon, Hunter Henry, Jonnu Smith, Nelson Agholor, Kendrick Bourne, and Jalen Mills, this offseason for New England has mainly consisted of a few re-signings, a few trades, and fewer additions of players like Terrance Mitchell, Ty Montgomery, Malcolm Butler, and Jabrill Peppers.
According to Ben Volin of the Boston Globe, next year could see the Patriots return to a higher priced offseason. Attractive names on the market, along with guarantees from last year’s signings coming off the books, could lead to New England pursuing the strategy of surrounding a young quarterback on their rookie deal with tons of talent.
Here are a few more free agency rumors from around the AFC, starting with a note from Dade County:
- Emmanuel Ogbah‘s new dream deal to stay in Miami was dangerously close to not happening, according to Barry Jackson of the Miami Herald. Ogbah signed an enticing four-year, $65MM deal with $32MM guaranteed in mid-March. While the Dolphins always planned on pursuing Ogbah, the offer they originally had in mind wasn’t quite that lofty. Rumors claim that another team was looking to offer Ogbah a deal close to the contract he ended up with in Miami. The Dolphins upped their offer moments before the start of free agency and were able to keep Ogbah in his home of the past two seasons.
- In a press conference with new Texans head coach Lovie Smith, a question was raised about the team’s cornerbacks room. Smith’s reply was that the play from last year’s group was not good enough. If players were brought back from last year, Smith claims that the team has faith in them to play a role, but that the team is definitely looking to improve their cornerback room. If the team is looking to free agency to do so, there are still some veteran names available on the market such as Joe Haden, Kyle Fuller, and Chris Harris.
- According to Mike Sando of The Athletic, while the Broncos obviously improved their quarterback room with the addition of Russell Wilson, an executive in the NFL claims that the move should still be considered a miss as the team obviously would’ve preferred Aaron Rodgers. It’s no secret that most teams in the NFL would prefer Rodgers over Wilson and Wilson clearly improves the Broncos’ offense as the best back up plan after missing on Rodgers. Yet the quoted executive seems to believe that the Broncos deserve a little less credit for the move, since it’s essentially the result of missing on Rodgers.
With all the drama Rodgers has I’m kinda glad we whiffed on him and got Russ. Also would’ve cost us more draft picks to give up
Yeah, this executive just comes off sounding salty. Especially since I’m pretty sure the Wilson deal was being constructed even before Rodgers re-signed
I’m sure that Denver had both deals in place before the decision was made. As soon as they got wind of Rodgers’ return, they had the Wilson deal ready to go. It may very well have been the result of whiffing on Rodgers, but Paton was prepared for that scenario from what it seems.
I can’t deny that Rodgers in that offense would have been truly deadly, but I think it will have to change more for Wilson in comparison. It figures to be better in any case than it was last year.
I am in full agreement that Rodgers would have been more ideal, but I’m also not sure Denver could have done much to get him, short of surrendering a king’s ransom. And at that point, is it really worth it? Thus, I think categorizing it as a “miss,” like this executive, is short-sighted
I agree.
Not to mention Rodgers can retire at the end of any season now, where as Russell will play another 10-12 seasons according to Wilson.
How old do you think Wilson is? 10-12 years?
I have to agree, plus Wilson is a much safer bet to not up and retire in a year or two. You could not justify giving up what it would have taken to get Rodgers, while wondering if he might only retire in a year or two.
Plus, Rodgers has been a giant disappointment when it comes to taking charge and leading his team to any resemblance of a sustained playoff run.
He’s been absolute money in the regular season, but when he plays a defense that’s able to stop the Packers’ running game, Rodgers has fallen flat on his face year after year, loss after loss. It isn’t entirely Rodgers’ fault, but he surely hasn’t played like a #1 QB come crunch time..
Honestly, I think Rodgers actually too often gets away with his lack of playing like a superstar in the post-season, for whatever reason he consistently gets a pass…
His defense isn’t good enough, his ST isn’t good enough, his coach isn’t creative enough, he doesn’t have the necessary weapons he needs, his OL gets blamed, etc. Well, if you are truly one of the “greats” you should be able to overcome some of your team’s deficits, especially when you’ve forced your team to make you the highest paid player EVER multiple times!!
At the very least, don’t get outplayed by Colin Kaepernick and Jimmy G multiple times when you’re supposed to be the NFL’s MVP and a generational talent..
Now, Rodgers has forced the Packers to make him him highest paid player again, and in doing so, it has cost his team to lose their number one All-Pro WR, their #2 WR, and an extremely talented Edge rusher. If he fails in the playoffs again, this time he will ONLY have his self to blame!!
To rebut your argument a little bit, you might be surprised to find out that Rodgers and Wilson are actually pretty comparable in the postseason.
While Rodgers holds a higher completion percentage and QBR, Wilson has a higher Y/A.
With regards to team record, the Packers are 11-10 in the postseason with Rodgers at the helm, while Seattle is 9-7 with Wilson. You can argue most of Rodgers’ success came in 2010, but I could make the same argument about Seattle (2012-2014).
Finally, it should be noted that although Rodgers’ postseason teams have defeated their opponents by a lower margin, their defense has surrendered a mean of over 25 points. Compare that to the average of 20 surrendered by Seattle.
Basically, what I’m really getting at, is that in a league as variable as the NFL, players can perform comparably in and reach different outcomes. After all, teams have 10 other offensive players and a defensive unit on the field as well. I could not find a significant statistic that clearly indicated one quarterback was superior in the postseason compared to the other.
Just my thoughts
That in ajd of itself actually speaks volumes. Most analysts, “gurus,” and “experts” all put Rodgers in the category with Brady all by theirselves atop the NFL.
Wilson costs less in terms of acquiring costs and from a cap perspective, he isn’t known for making public waves, and barring some unforseen circumstances he isn’t playing on a year by year basis taking each offseason to decide whether he wants to retire or not…
If you add all of that up together, I don’t see why so many “experts” are clamoring that Denver had to settle for their “backup plan.” From my point of view, to borrow the popular NFL phrase, it is clear and obvious they made the best choice possible…
I like Rodgers, and I’m a 49ers fan, but maybe the 49ers seemingly always taking him.out of the playoffs has skewed my perception of Rodgers’ overall playoff performances and his resume.
By no means whatsoever am I implying Aaron Rodgers isn’t a great quarterback, I’d be a complete moron to believe that. I just think for as “great” as people make.him out to be, and for as entitled as he acts, he needs to shut his mouth and start distancing himself from the pack. Instead of pointing fingers when things go wrong, and seemingly acting defeated when down, he.should be raising those around him and rallying them to victory. When he’s the number one seed in the playoffs, with home field advantage, the “ALL-TIME” greats don’t fail to reach 14 points and be made to look mediocre and even lost at times against a rookie DC.
It just also left a really sour taste in my mouth to have that kind of lackluster performance then demand to be the highest paid player in the league when you know you’re going to force your franchise to have to get rid of Adams, MVS, and Smith just to accommodate those demands..
I cannot argue against your stats and facts, but that is just my own viewpoints and personal feelings..Which, admittingly, aren’t worth a can of beans, but still…lol
You still make a fair point. Although Rodgers is statistically an amazing regular season quarterback, I’m not going to pretend he has been fantastic in the postseason. I also agree that it is somewhat inconsistent to complain about management not doing enough to improve the team (fair) and subsequently sign an exorbitant contract extension that hinders the team from doing so (less fair).
While not an awful postseason quarterback by any mean, he’s not even close to the likes of Brady and Montana, as you mentioned
Agree, plus Wilson is 6 years younger, Rodgers could flame out at anytime.
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With all the drama Rodgers has I’m kind of glad we whiffed on him and got Russ. Plus Rodgers would’ve cost more draft picks
They both have won the same amount of Super Bowls. Russ doesn’t have the drama in and out of football like Karen does. Russ understands who he is. Karen is still trying to figure that one out.
Don’t be so sure to discredit Russ by calling him their “plan B.” Russ doesn’t pout and point fingers when he gets outplayed by lesser QBs in crunch time. He may hold onto the ball too long, and he may cause his OL to wear down over the course of a game, but Russ also has had alot of playoff success when he’s been surrounded with a solid team.
If I were the Broncos owner, their GM, etc. give me Wilson. I trust his mental makeup tenfold more than Rodgers when it comes to winning with his team’s back against the wall..
Rodgers has made more noise than Russ but Mr Wilson has his sneaky little quips and the last couple years have been a bit louder. Russ was a major part of the LOB breaking up. He has always been Petes little pet and was rarely blamed for anything.
Pete threw “the pass” in the SB because he wanted Russ to be the MVP not Lynch. Also so many people parrot the pass being thrown as a bad play. They would of had to throw the ball once because of time. The mistakes made 1 why was Lynch spread out to the cheap seats? You just took him out of the equation. 2 The play was not bad the pass was bad. Richard I am sure you have seen that play many times. That ball needs to be in the body and between the waist and knees. If the WR has to reach for the ball he is at a huge disadvantage. You saw the result of the pass being to far from and too high from the WR. Nobody blames Russ.
Caused a huge rift in the locker room. One of the maddest.left that off season and went to some team down south. They have ugly uni colors and bad fans. Ok most of your fans aren’t bad we all have them. We should brainwash all the idiots to be Cowgirl fans and the decent cowgirl fans can be spread around to other teams. Anyway Sherm knew it was a bad pass because he has been part of the D defending.it for years. Again Pete coddling him
I said above that Russ makes noise but not as loud. The thing Denver will find is there will be no discount at all. Russ wants to be an NFL owner so he needs to make as much as possible. He will have to be the highest paid have a lock tight no trade clause etc. Russ throws the best deep ball in the NFL if you have watched him throw you know it is true. If the D is beat he will throw a ball that drops into the WRs hands not breaking stride. If the guy is covered he will throw him open. His biggest downfall is holding the ball. The OL gets graded down because of sacks but Russ running around causes many of them. He will also at times be able to run for a first but will try and throw it. I think it is trying to up his stats.
I think Wilson is a top 5 QB but there are some young guys that will pass him in a year or two. He is like one of those sneaky naughty kids. You know the type silently comes in does something then sneaks away. I will get ragged on this and told I am not a true Seahawk fan for saying this but nobody has been a fan longer. They might be a fan as long I have been true since day 1 Russ is a huge fake. My niece goes to the same church as him and a lot of Seahawk players. He comes in a private door with the pastor and is surrounded by “friends” he then leaves through the same door. With no contact with anyone. The other players sit in the pews and talk with people before and after. People respect their space and don’t bother them for autographs and other stuff. This one people will disagree but marrying Ciara is a bit of a warning sign. I believe Christians can do secular music but I don’t believe they can wear the clothes and dance like she does. There are certain things she shouldn’t do. A Christian man should not want his wife up on stage dancing and wearing the clothes she does. Lastly the go Hawks is choreographed into his public persona. I like him as a QB but hope they can hit on most of the players get a QB next year and sign DK. I am afraid he is going to Denver. We need him signed. Sorry this is long.
Wow that guy up there wrote a book. Lol
Another thing please baby Jesus don’t let us get mixed up in that Baker Mayfield crap. If he is the answer you asked the wrong question.